Content management is defined as software that builds, organizes, manages, and stores collections of digital works in any medium or format. Content management refers to the process of handling various types of structured and unstructured information, including images and documents that may contain billing data, customer service information, or other types of content. Content management further refers to the process of capturing, storing, sorting, codifying, integrating, updating, and protecting any and all information. Studiesestimate that more than 75% of enterprise data is unstructured and document-related (reference is made for example, to Lyman, Peter, et. al., “How Much Information, 2000”, http://www.sims.berkelev.edu/how-much-info).
Key technologies in the content management market include document management, web content management, digital asset management, and records management. Typical users of content management are in document-heavy industries in which document management is essential, often for regulatory or compliance reasons. Content comprises many different forms of unstructured data requiring management: business documents, dynamic web content, records management, and rich media. Business documents comprise contracts, invoices, forms, and e-mail. Business documents, for example, facilitate internal back-office processes and enable direct external communication with customers, partners, and suppliers. Dynamic web content comprises business data in relational databases and personalized information. Records management is typically driven by government and industry regulations to effectively document processes, audit trails, and data retention. Rich media comprises digital audio and video. Rich media is rapidly transforming areas of training, education, marketing, and customer relationship management in many industries.
Conventional document management applications are typically built on top of a document repository. Documents are typically indexed, ingested, and stored in the document repository to support query and retrieval. Indexing and any logic associated with the inbound and outbound document flow are hard coded as application specific logic. Examples of such application specific logic include e-mail notifications that accompany an inbound claims document, the addition of specific marketing collateral associated with invoice documents, etc.
The notion of relating document management with workflow has been prevalent for several decades and many document management systems incorporate this feature. One conventional method presents a tool that supports gathering together documents, adding metadata, and building new collections of libraries (reference is made to Bainbridge, D., et. al., “Assembling and Enriching Digital Library Collections”, In Proceedings of The Join Conference on Digital Libraries, 2003). The process of this conventional method involves selecting a document for inclusion, generating a suitable metadata set, assigning metadata to each document or group of documents, and designing the form of the collection in terms of document formats, searchable indexes, and browsing facilities. The process further involves building the necessary indexes and data structures and putting the collection in place for others to use. The tool of this conventional method is specific to a particular digital library but lends itself to more general contexts in the underlying ideas of this conventional approach.
Another conventional method utilizes a workflow language named exchangeable routing language (XRL) for supporting cross-organizational processes (reference is made to van der Aalst, W. M. P, et. al., “XRL/Woflan: Verification and Extensibility of an XML/Petri-net Based Language for Inter-organizational Workflows”, In Proceedings of the 6th INFORMS Conference on Information Systems and Technology, 2001). XRL also uses XML for the representation of process definitions and Petri nets for semantics purposes. XRL is instance-based; consequently, workflow definitions can be changed “on the fly” and sent across organizational boundaries. Although this technology has proven to be useful, it would be desirable to present additional improvements. The features of XRL make cross-organizational workflows susceptible to errors.
This conventional method also uses XRL/Woflan, a software tool using Petri-net analysis techniques for verifying XRL workflows. This tool uses extensible style language transformations (XLST) to translate SRL specifications to a specific class of Petri nets called workflow nets. The Petri-net representation is used to determine whether the workflow is correct. If the workflow is not correct, anomalies such as deadlocks and livelocks are reported.
Another conventional approach utilizes a systematic layered modeling approach (reference is made to Sadiq, W., “On Capturing Process Requirements of Workflow Based Business Information Systems”, In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Business Information Systems, 1999). This approach splits workflow specification into five basic dimensions: structure, data, execution, temporal, and transactional and introduces a graphical language for workflow modeling.
Yet another conventional method presents tools and methods to address problems in integrated document and workflow management with a case study involving offer processing for a machine tool company (reference is made to Morschheuser, S., et. al., “Integrated document and workflow management applied to the offer processing of a machine tool company”, In Proceedings of Conference on Organizational Computing Systems, 1995). This conventional method is a process definition language designed to make a document-oriented tool with a workflow engine more efficient.
Another conventional approach utilizes an idea of active document properties to document management applications (reference is made to Dourish, P., et al., “Extending document management systems with user-specific active properties”, In ACM Transactions on Information Systems (TOIS), Volume 18 Issue 2, 2000). This conventional approach avoids traditional hierarchical storage mechanisms, reflects document categorizations meaningful to user tasks, and provides a means to integrate the perspectives of one or more individuals within a uniform interaction framework. Property-based document management systems are augmented with the notion of active properties that carry executable code to enable the provision of document-based services on a property infrastructure.
Yet another conventional system captures essentially freely structured documents such as those typically used in the office domain (reference is made to Mattos, N. M., et. al., “An approach to integrated office document processing and management”, In ACM SIGOIS Bulletin, Proceedings of the Conference on Office Information Systems, Volume 11 Issue 2-3, 1990). This conventional system facilitates the handling of containing information. Analyzed documents are stored in a document management system that is connected to several different subsequent services and serves as rudimentary workflow.
A further conventional system uses the Eclipse platform to create customized perspectives and views. The Eclipse platform provides a stable, full-featured base layer on which custom tools can be created. An information visualization tool has been integrated within this platform. A plug-in has also been developed for this platform for providing a visual integrated development environment for JasCo, a dynamic language focused at component-based software engineering to guide developers in programming JasCo artifacts using visual wizards.
Much of the research related to model-driven development has been performed in the context of easing runtime aspects of user-database interactions such as query expression, query result display, and navigation through the stored data. Collectively, these tasks are referenced as Visual Query Systems. In comparison, relatively little focus has been placed on the interface provided by the tools used to define and manipulate models for data and applications. Conventional database modeling products provide visual data modeling profiles that integrate into a broader software development cycle.
The lifestyle of conventional document management applications typically comprises a set of loosely coupled subsystems that provide capture, index, search, workflow, fulfillment, and archival features. However, there currently exists no standard model or platform for composing these elements together to instantiate a compete application. Consequently, each application incorporates custom application code to provide linkages between each of the loosely coupled subsystems.
What is therefore needed is a system, a computer program product, and an associated method for defining and generating dynamic document management applications for use in a document management system. The need for such a solution has heretofore remained unsatisfied.